Wave Propagation and Scattering in Deformed Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is pursued to study the propagation and scattering of longitudinal sinusoidal and humped waves in SWCNTs. For SWCNTs with a smooth bend, the wave experiences no barrier in propagation when its wavelength (λ) is comparable to or smaller than the bending radius. For buckled SWCNTs, reflection is observed for all bending angles (α). The transmission coefficient decreases to about 10% when α = 90°. An effective radius of bending is estimated to be 0.84 nm from the continuum modeling, which is far below the simulated wavelengths. Theoretical analysis concludes that a strong reflection occurs when λ≫R ₀. The phonon wavelength is typically in the range of 1–100 nm for SWCNTs, which explains the robustness of heat conduction in wavy SWCNTs.